Increasing demand for low power consumption in the electronics market combined with continued miniaturization of electronic device components in analogue or digital circuits has led to supply voltage being less than a volt (i.e., sub-volt levels) for many devices. The supply voltage to integrated circuit (IC) devices are typically provided by AC-DC power converters, which convert high frequency AC input voltage to a conditioned or rated DC output voltage at a given power level. Low-voltage AC-DC converters generally consist of a diode rectifier, which is often composed of several conventional semiconductor diodes, an inductor and capacitor.
Typical rectifier technology, however, is bulky and has lower power conversion efficiency. In addition, conventional power conversion diodes have problems with thermal conductivity, heat generation and manufacturing.